


Mish-Mash of Multiple Fandoms (MMMF)

by PurpleWombats



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I probs need a therapist lol this has a lot of fandoms, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Multi-Fandom, Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 08:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19422364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleWombats/pseuds/PurpleWombats
Summary: Honestly, when I go to bed at night, to fall asleep I write myself into different books, movies, etc. So I figured I'd kinda put the narrative I had online. It will most likely be incomprehensible and poorly written because I'm not the best writer. IRL I'm 18 but in this, I'm 17. I'm the main character but, if you wish, you can just replace the pseudonym I'm using (no my name is not Akia) with y/n. I think that's it for a summary, you'll figure it out as you go... hopefully. Buckle up and enjoy this train wreck of a fic. I hope the Lord blesses you and you have a great day!





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It happened again… My mother and I were fighting, and my siblings were getting on my last nerve. Normally, I would just ignore it. Just keep it inside. But after so long, it builds up and festers. The dam has finally broken. I couldn’t take it. I did the very thing I swore I would never do. I ran.

Tears streaming from my face, I sprint through the woods near my house, already hating myself for my decision. I was no better than my father. A coward who turns tail at the first real sign of trouble. After a couple minutes of full speed running, I slow to a more reasonable pace. My jog slows to an exhausted stumble as I drop to my knees. I let out a sob, fed up with this day. I knew I would be in huge trouble when I went back, but I just needed some time to myself, some time to cry. Sometimes crying helps. It certainly made me feel a miniscule amount of relief.

As I regain my breath and dry my eyes, I quickly realize that quite a bit of time has passed. The sun was beginning to dip in the sky. I feel a flutter of panic in my chest.

“Oh no,” I whisper out loud. “I have a hard enough time getting places when it’s completely light out.” _Darn my terrible navigational skills,_ I add in my head. I look around, trying to remember the way I came from. Settling on a direction, I start walking, planning on how I’m gonna talk my way out of this one. No matter what I came up with, I knew I was so screwed.

Eventually, the sun fully set. It was pitch black out and I had no idea where I was. I strain my ears, listening for any sign of town. Time crawls by slowly. Just as I’m about to give up and rest for the night, I notice a pulsating light.

Assuming it’s a person (hopefully looking for me), I cautiously call out, “Hello? Is- is someone there?” Getting no response, I slowly work my way toward the light. _There’s no way that it’s already day._ The closer I get to the light, the more I start to notice a slight pain behind my eyes, which I mentally reassure myself is just from crying. I finally find the source, an ominous pillar of light. “Every movie I’ve ever seen says that I should walk away,” I sigh, done with my own stupidity. Despite every instinct telling me to leave, I move closer to investigate. I circle it, stare at it, throw rocks at it, nothing happens. The pain behind my eyes was nearing migraine levels. I look to the sky, searching for a source of the light. Seeing nothing, my confusion only grows. Finally getting tired of the pain and wanting an answer, I take a deep breath and glare at the column. “Screw it.” I step into the light. Momentarily blinded, I cry out in shock. The pain hits its peak, and everything goes black.


	2. Idk Chapter 2 I Guess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Swiggity swyrim, finally in Skyrim!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comments and suggestions! God bless!

Chapter 2

Cold. It’s so. Freaking. COLD. I notice that I can see daylight behind my eyelids. Shuddering slightly, I open my eyes a small amount. I have an almost clear view of the sky. The only thing obscuring my vision, is part of a nearly leafless tree. I sit up and look around the area. It doesn’t take long for me to realize that this is nowhere near the woods outside my house. I scramble to my feet, stressfully running my hands through my hair, nervously scanning my surroundings.

“This is bad. This is very, very, completely bad.” I start pacing anxiously. I happen to look up and I see a mountain. I’m really freaking out now, “Why is there a mountain? I live nowhere near a mountain!”

I pause a moment to consider my situation, “okay. I can figure this out,” I start walking, “I’m bound to find something or someone.”

After some time of walking, in the distance I can see a large group of people. “Oh, thank goodness.” As I jog up to the group, I realize they’re all in blue and gray armor. _I guess this is a renaissance fair or something._

I walk up to one of the men toward the outside of the group. “Excuse me sir, do you happen to know where we are?” He gives a very confused look.

“Had a bit too much to drink, huh? We’re at the border,” he chuckles.

I internally panic, “The Canadian border!? I live in the Midwest!”

“The what? No, the border of Skyrim an-“ He’s cut off as multiple red armored men on horseback surround the group, weapons ready. The blue armored men draw their weapons as well.

“For the crime of murdering the High King, we have come to take Ulfric Stormcloak.”

A man steps forward and says in a very confident voice, “I killed him in fair combat. He accepted my challenge and he lost.”

Before I can figure out what’s going on, swords are clashing. I duck out of the way of the fighting, watching the, what I assume to be fake, fighting. I watch with a grin… at least until a sword pierces through someone’s chest. I slowly begin to realize that these are real weapons.

I look over to the man I originally had talked to. He’s in fierce combat with one of the red armored soldiers. They both repeatedly get close to stabbing each other. In a panic, not wanting to see anyone else die, I rush up and pull the red armored man’s sword arm back. He whirls around and slams the hilt of his sword into my temple. I drop like a sack of potatoes and cry out in pain. As my vision goes dark, I feel my hands being tied together. The last thing I see is the man accused of the crime being tied up and gagged.


	3. Do I Actually Have to Name These? I Don't Think I Will... Unless Y'all Like These Random Titles.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during the opening to Skyrim. That's it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am posting everything I have so far in one day. I have no particular schedule for posting. If for any reason you're having a bad day, listen to the song "Gold" by Britt Nicole. It's a very upbeat, inspirational song.

Chapter 3

As I regain consciousness, I feel a dull throbbing in my head. I keep my eyes closed, holding back tears from pain. I shortly realize I hear the sound of horse hooves as I’m being jostled around. Once I have a good hold on my pain, I open my eyes slowly and look around. I’m in a horse drawn cart with three other people. The one directly across from me is the man who I had initially spoke to. The person directly next to me is this “Ulfric Stormcloak” that the red armored guys were after. The final dude in the cart with me is a man that I had never seen before.

He looks up at me, “Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us,” he pauses a moment, “and that thief over there.”

The thief scowls at him, “Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. The Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn’t been looking for you, I could’ve stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell.”

 _Empire? Did I time travel back to Ancient Rome or something._ I glance at our captors and notice the armor does look fairly Roman. I then look to the men I’m in the cart with. Their clothes look Scandinavian. I’m very confused.

The horse thief nods at me, “You there. You and me, we shouldn’t be here. It’s these Stormcloaks the Empire wants.”

“I wasn’t trying to cross any border. I don’t even know where I am!” I can’t keep from letting out a slightly hysterical laugh.

The soldier driving the cart huffs and shouts back to us, “Shut up back there!”

I flinch slightly at being yelled at. The man across from me give a sympathetic nod and whispers, “My name is Ralof.”

I meekly stutter out my name, “I’m- I’m Akia.”

He smiles then addresses the other man, “What’s your name horse thief?”

“Lokir.” Looking at the gagged man he says, “And what’s wrong with him?”

Ralof bristles at the way the man is spoken about, “Watch your tongue! You’re speaking about Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King.”

Lokir pales slightly, “Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? Y- You’re the leader of the rebellion. If they captured you…” He trails off. A horrified look creeps onto his face, “Oh gods, where are they taking us?”

“I don’t know, but Sovngarde awaits.”

“No, this can’t be happening!”

“What’s happening? What rebellion? Where’s Sovngarde?” I’m panicking. There are a few moments of somber silence. I assume that this isn’t going to end well.

“Hey, what village are you from, Lokir?”

“Why do you care,” He asks glumly.

“A Nord’s last thoughts should be of home.”

“Rorikstead. I’m… I’m from Rorikstead.”

“And you, Akia?”

“I’m from Missouri.”

Looking confused, Ralof asks, “Is that somewhere near Cyrodil?”

Before I can answer, an Imperial soldier shouts, “General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!”

“Good. Let’s get this over with,” Tullius replies

“Headsmen? As in, head chopping?”

“Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me,” Lokir cries out. That’s answer enough for me.

Disgusted, Ralof says, “Look at him, General Tullius the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this.”

_Elves? What is this? Lord of the Rings?_

He then gets a look of recognition on his face as we pass through the gates, “This is Helgen.” He smiles and continues, “I used to be sweet on a girl from here. I wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny… when I was a boy, Imperial walls made me feel so safe.”

As we pass through the city, a young boy asks his father, “Who are they daddy? Where are they going?” “You need to go inside, little cub.”

“Why? I want to watch the soldiers.”

“Inside the house. Now,” the dad answers firmly.

 _I wonder if I’ll ever see my family again…_ I feel extremely depressed as I realize the last memory my family will have of me is us fighting.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Dragon time, go Alduin! yeAH I LOVE MY HOMEBOY! Sorry, didn't mean to LOSE MY HEAD. Get it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I just wanted to share this verse from Judges. It's from chapter 3, verses 20-25 "And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, 'Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.' And they waited until they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor." So yeah, Ehud stabs this really fat king for God and he (king) poops himself. Now, I know it's because organs and stuff shut down when you die, but think about it, the servants think he's using the toilet. They open the door to find the king dead and covered in said poop. judges is one of the best books of the Bible, if this isn't proof enough, read Samson's story. It's pretty crazy.

Chapter 4

The wagon comes to a stop. In a panicked tone, Lokir asks, “Why are they stopping?”

“Why do you think? End of the line. Let’s go. We shouldn’t keep the gods waiting,” Ralof answers somberly.

“No! Wait! We’re not rebels!”

“Face your death with some courage, thief,” Ralof says, annoyed.

Ulfric is the first to get off the cart, followed by Lokir, then me. Finally, Ralof hops off beside me.

Lokir pleads with Ralof, “You’ve got to tell them! We weren’t with you! This is a mistake!”

Ralof barely casts him a glance. I silently await my doom.

A soldier, who appears to be some sort of captain, calls out, “Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time.”

Ralof rolls his eyes and mutters, “Empire loves their damn lists.”

A soldier standing next to the captain starts reading names, “Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm.”

As Ulfric steps forward, Ralof says, “It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric.”

“Ralof of Riverwood.” Ralof walks to the block, head held high.

“Lokir of Rorikstead.”

“No, I’m not a rebel! You can’t do this!” He takes off running.

“Halt!”

“You’re not gonna kill me!”

I watch in terror as the Captain calls for the archers. Lokir gets close to the gate before he’s killed in one shot.

The Captain nods then addresses the rest of the prisoners, “Anyone else feel like running?” I vigorously shake my head.

The name reader notices me, “Wait, you there. Step forward. Who are you?”

I obediently step forward and say, “My name is Akia.”

“You picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim.”

“I’m not from here.”

He shrugs and continues, “What should we do Captain? She’s not on the list.”

“Forget the list. She goes to the block.”

“By your orders captain.” He turns to me and continues, “Follow the Captain, prisoner.”

I let out a shaky sigh and walk towards the block, refusing to die crying.

The man who Ralof referred to as General Tullius is talking to Ulfric. “Ulfric Stormcloak,” he begins with a sneer. “Some here in Helgen call you a hero, but a hero doesn’t use a power like the Voice to murder his king and usurp the throne.”

Ulfric narrows his eyes and grunts through the gag to protest.

Tullius smirks and continues, “You started this war and plunged Skyrim into chaos. Now, the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace.”

A loud roaring can be heard on the distance. “What was that?”

“It’s nothing. Carry on.”

“Yes, General Tullius,” he turns to a woman in robes, “Read them their last rites.”

The priestess nods and starts her spiel, “As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved- “

She’s interrupted as one of the Stormcloak soldiers walks forward, “For the love of Talos, shut up and let’s get this over with.”

The priestess, annoyed at being interrupted, huffs, “As you wish.”

The soldier walks forward and kneels, resting his head on the block, “Come on, I haven't got all morning. My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?”

I want to close my eyes, but instead watch in silent horror as the headsman raises the axe and brings it down on the Stormcloaks neck. The head drops into the basket and the headsman kicks the body off the block, making room for the next victim. Aside from my heart beating rapidly, I feel completely numb. Members of the gathered crowd start jeering.

“Justice!”

“Death to the Stormcloaks!”

One Stormcloak soldier, in anguish, shouts, “You Imperial bastards!”

My heart stops as I hear called out, “Next, the Nord in the strange clothes!”

Before I can do anything, another roar sounds, this time much closer to us.

The man who was calling out names once again pipes up and says, “There it is again. Did you hear that?”

Ignoring him, the Captain says, more firmly, “I said, next prisoner!”

As I walk forward, the man who was calling names sympathetically says, “To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy.”

I walk forward and kneel. I fail to hold back a whimper as I get a close look at the head in the basket. I put my head on the block. I unfortunately, am facing the headsman and have a perfect view of him raising the axe…


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I try not to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I was reading what I had written, it sorta seemed, at least to me, like Ralof is a love interest. He is most certainly not. Same goes for Hadvar. Strictly platonic. Thank you, have a blessed day!

Chapter 5

As he brings it above his head, the roar is heard again and a large, black mass swoops over the town.

Tullius shouts, “What in Oblivion is that?”

The Captain draws her sword and yells, “Sentries! What do you see?”

“It’s in the clouds!”

What appears to be a freaking dragon, lands on the nearby tower, causing the ground to shake. The dragon roars and some sort of energy is sent out, killing the headsman. I roll out of the way before it hits me.

A voice yells, “DRAGON!”

As I try to get to my feet, I hear Tullius yell, “Don’t just stand there, kill that thing! Guards, get the townspeople to safety!”

Ralof, hands free from their bindings, helps me the rest of the way up, “Hey, Akia. Get up! Come on, the gods won't give us another chance! This way!”

The dragon is flying around the town, blasting fire at the buildings. Ralof leads me into a tower. As I catch my breath, I hear him say, “Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing!? Could the legends be true?”

Ulfric, who I realize is no longer gagged, says “Legends don’t burn down villages. We need to move. Now!”

Ralof nods and orders, “Up through the tower. Let’s go. This way, friend. Move!”

As he practically drags me up the stairs, a soldier at the top says, “We just need to move these rocks!”

Ralof keeps me from falling as the dragon smashes through the wall, the impact knocking down the man at the top.

“Get back!”

It almost sounds like the dragon is speaking as it shoots fire from its maw, “Vol toor shul!” The man is burned alive. This time I do close my eyes.

Once the dragon leaves Ralof and I peer through the hole. “See that inn on the other side?” When I nod, he continues, “Jump through the roof and keep going!”

“Jump!? Are you crazy?” I glance down and instantly feel dizzy.

“Do you have a better plan? Go! We'll follow you when we can.”

Realizing he’s right, I step up to the edge of the hole. I take a deep breath and leap toward the building. I drop through onto the top floor, crying out in pain as I land, rolling to my feet. Taking a moment to regain myself, I stand and run down the stairs. As I run through the door, I see the list-giver talking to the child who had asked who we were.

“Haming, you need to get over here now! Thataboy. You're doing great! Torolf!” The dragon swoops by, “Gods… Everyone! Get back!” I duck down as the dragon spits fire. He notices me, “Still alive? Keep close to me if you want to stay that way.” I nod and move to stand beside him. “Gunnar take care of the boy. I have to find General Tullius and join the defense.”

Gunnar replies, “Gods guide you, Hadvar.”

We start running through an alley. The dragon perches right above us on the roof of a house. Hadvar pulls me over to a wall, “Keep close to the wall!”

Once again, it sounds as if the dragon is using words, “Vol toor shul!” Fire shoots from his mouth the second he finishes speaking.

Once he flies away, Hadvar says, “Quickly, follow me!” As we run, he occasionally pulls me to the ground to shield me from the blasts of fire. We make it to the main gate, but it’s blocked by debris.

Standing near the gate is General Tullius. Barely sparing me a glance, he says, “Hadvar! Into the keep, soldier. We’re leaving!”

Hadvar nods and leads me towards the keep, “It’s you and me prisoner. Stay close and you’ll get out of here alive.” Arrows are pelting the dragon, but they don’t seem to be doing anything, harmlessly bouncing off its scales.

We’re almost to the exit when we come across Ralof. Hadvar shouts at him, “Ralof! You damned traitor, get out of our way!”

Ralof scowls at him, then gives me a confused glance, “We’re escaping, Hadvar! You’re not stopping us this time.”

Hadvar growls, “I hope the dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!”

Ralof points at me, “Akia, come on! Into the keep.”

Hadvar glares at him, then says to me, “With me, prisoner. Let’s go! Come on, we need to get inside.”

While I was looking at Hadvar, Ralof heads towards the keep. I turn back to Ralof, considering going with him, when I see him go through a door to the keep, the door shutting tightly behind him. _Guess my decision was made for me._

I turn back to Hadvar and nod. He pulls open a different door and lets me through, closing it behind us.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically just navigating the keep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way I behave in these chapters is how I typically would irl. In later chapters, I do plan on doing stuff with the Dark Brotherhood, cause I love those bois. Btw, this is a longer chapter.

Chapter 6

“It looks like we’re the only ones who made it. Was that really a dragon? The bringers of the End Times?” Realizing he was zoning out, he says to me, “We should really get moving. Come here. Let me see if I can get those bindings off.”

I walk forward and hold up my hands. I flinch as he draws a dagger. Noticing this, he calmly says, “Don’t worry. It’s just to cut the rope. Remind me your name, prisoner.”

Watching carefully as the dagger nears my wrists, I say, “Akia.

As he cuts through the ropes, he says, “Hadvar. There you go. Take a look around, there should be plenty of gear you can choose from. I’m gonna see if I can find something for our burns.” He starts digging through some nearby barrels.

I look around and see a chest. I open it up to find some Imperial armor. I set it down on a nearby bed and take a sword from a weapons rack.

Hadvar casts a disappointed look at the barrels, then says, “You better get that armor on. Maybe swing the sword a few times.”

I pull it on over my clothes. It’s only slightly too big for me. I pick up the sword and look to Hadvar, “What now?”

“Let’s keep moving. That thing is still out there. Come on, this way.”

As we make our way through the corridors, we hear voices. “We need to keep going! That dragon is tearing up the whole keep.”

An out-of-breath gasp answers, “Just a minute… I… I need to catch my breath…”

Hadvar turns to me and quietly says, “Hear that? Stormcloaks. Maybe we can reason with them.”

He steps forward, hands raised. I follow and do the same. They tense up. “Hold on now. We just want to-“ The Stormcloaks draw their weapons. Hadvar sighs and draws his sword, “If you want to die, so be it.”

He rushes forward and starts battling with one. The other comes straight for me. I draw my sword and get into a battle stance. He swings at my right side. I step to the left and bring my sword down to deflect the blow. I push him back and thrust my sword at his chest. He moves to block it but is a split second to slow. He looks down at the sword in his chest. The look on his face is almost comical. It would have been funny if it wasn’t because I had killed him. I pull the sword free from his chest and he drops to the ground, blood pooling around his corpse.

I stare at him, the sword dropping from my hands. I finally allow tears to flow down my cheeks. Hadvar finishes off the soldier he was fighting and looks at me.

Seeing my tears, he rushes over, “What happened? Are you injured?”

Still staring at the body, I whisper, “I killed him. He’s dead. I murdered him.”

Hadvar looks to the body, then reassures me, “It was self-defense. If you wouldn’t have killed him, he’d have killed you.”

“I guess.”

“This won’t be the only time you’ll have to do this,” he admits.

I pick up my sword and nod, wiping the tears from my eyes, “I know.”

He looks at the body a moment longer before snapping out of it, “Well, that’s the end of that. Let’s see if I can get that door open.”

Once the doors were open, we start down the stairs. As we get to the bottom, a portion of the roof collapses in front of us. Hadvar pulls me back before the rubble crushes us, “Look out!” Once the dust clears, he groans, “Damn, that dragon doesn’t give up easy.”

“You’ve got that right.”

We continue for a while, until we hear voices. We duck down and approach slowly. “What are you doing? We need to get out of Helgen. Now!”

A second voice speaks, “The Imperials have potions in here. We’re going to need them.”

We wait for a few moments for the Stormcloaks to move on, not wanting another fight. As we enter, Hadvar remarks, “An old storeroom. See if you can find any potions. Might come in handy.”

I nod and dig through some nearby barrels. I pull out a few bottles. “Can these go bad?”

He looks deep in thought for a moment, “Nah, I don’t think so.”

“That’s comforting.”

With a roll of his eyes, he asks, “Done then?” After I nod, he continues with, “This way!”

We wander through a few more hallways before hearing a commotion up ahead. We nod to each other and draw our swords, rushing into the room.

The room has three cages. None of the inhabitants are alive. I don’t focus on them for long as, in the middle of the room, two men are fighting a pair of Stormcloaks. Before Hadvar and I can join in and help, both Stormcloaks are dead.

Hadvar looks around and realizes where we are. He grimaces and says, “A torture room. Gods, I wish we didn’t need these…”

The torturer walks up to us and says, “The two of you happened along just in time for a show. These boys seemed quite upset at how I’d been entertaining their comrades.” He gestures to the cages.

Hadvar and I share a disgusted look, but he’s the first to speak up, “Don’t you even know what’s going on? A dragon is attacking Helgen!”

The torturer scoffs, “A dragon? Please. Don’t make up nonsense… although, come to think of it, I did hear some odd noises coming from up there…”

“Come with us. We need to get out of here.”

I shoot him a glare. I did NOT want this jerk to come with us. Hadvar ignores me.

“You have no authority over me, boy.” _Oh, thank goodness._

Hadvar looks shocked (and slightly relieved), “Didn’t you hear me? I said the keep is under attack!”

The man shrugs dismissively. His assistant gives a nervous laugh and says, “Forget the old man! I‘ll come with you.”

Hadvar starts walking, when something in the middle cage catches his eye, “Wait a second, looks like there’s something in here.”

“Don’t bother with that,” the torturer says, “Lost the key ages ago. Poor fellow screamed for weeks.” I didn’t think this was possible, but I liked this guy even less.

Hadvar hands me a few pieces of metal, “See if you can get it open with some picks. We’ll need everything we can get.”

“Sure, take all my things. Please.”

While sticking the metal into the lock and struggling profusely to unlock the cage, I say, annoyed, “We could do with a little less sarcasm.”

“I’m sure we could. But we won’t.”

I’m about to snap but am distracted by the door opening. I give Hadvar a pleased grin. He shakes his head and tries to hide a smile, “Grab what you can and let’s go.”

I walk in and try to ignore the robed body. I notice a few golden coins as well as a book titled “Flames”. I pocket the coins before inspecting the book. As I open it, I barely glance at the words before it disintegrates in my hands. I jump slightly, not expecting it. I turn back to Hadvar and shrug, “that was weird.” I catch a glimpse of my hands and scream, realizing they’re on fire.


	7. Ready, Aim, FIRE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freedom at last.

Chapter 7

I start flailing my hands trying to put them out. Hadvar starts laughing.

“What are you laughing about!? I’m on FIRE!”

Once he stops laughing, he calmly says, “Does it hurt?”

“What do you mean “does it hurt”? Of course it-“ I stop as I realize it doesn’t. Not one bit. “W-What? How?”

“Apparently you can use magic. Whoop-dee-doo,” The torturer sasses.

“Magic. But… magic isn’t real.”

“Obviously it is,” The torturer points at my hands.

“Try to use it,” Hadvar suggests.

I turn to a bare wall and thrust my hands towards it. I hold it for a few seconds before feeling utterly exhausted. I would definitely need to practice. “This is so cool!”

“You can play around with fire once we’re out of here, let’s go.” He starts for the tunnels.

“There’s no way out that way, you know.”

We ignore him and walk through. As we walk away from the stairs, a rock collapses behind us, just barely missing us. I scream as it crashes.

Hadvar sighs, “Damn it. No going back that way. I guess we're lucky that didn't come down on top of us. We better push on. I'm sure the others will find another way out.”

As we wander though the tunnels, we come across a stream. I groan as my shoes get wet and trudge through. As we get to a dead end, I feel like I’m gonna have an aneurism. “We did all that… for nothing!”

Hadvar points to a gap that I had missed in the wall, “I guess we’d better try this way.”

The tunnel leads into an open room. All of a sudden I hear a strange hissing sound from above. I look up and nearly pas out from sheer terror as HUMUNGOUS spiders drop from the ceiling.

As they land, one shoots out some kind of venom at the torturer’s assistant. It hits him square in the face and he screams in agony. I don’t have time to check on him because of a spider leaping at me. As it is about to make contact, I’m able to pierce it from underneath with my blade. I use my foot to slide it off. “Ew, ew, ew, EW!”

While Hadvar is engaging another, a third one is scuttling toward him from behind. In a panic, I call the flames to my hands and set it alight, “KILL IT WITH FIRE!”

Once the final one is dead, we look at the poor assistant. His face is completely gone. All that’s left is the bone, jaw open in an eternal scream of fear and pain.

“At least the dragon didn’t get him,” Hadvar tries optimistically.

I shudder and say, “This is definitely gonna haunt my dreams for a while.”

“The spiders or him?”

“Yes.”

“Fair enough.” He surveys the spiders and cringes, “What’s next, giant snakes?”

I get a stupid grin on my face despite the situation, “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”

“What are you talking about?” He looks at me as if I’m crazy. Maybe I am.

“You know, Indiana Jones? The movie?”

“The what?”

“A movie. It… never mind,” I sigh, realizing there is no use in attempting to explain. We go a little bit further, following the stream. We crest a ledge and Hadvar grabs my arm and pulls me back, “Hold up. There’s a bear up ahead. See her?”

I nod, “better than a dragon.”

He stifles a chuckle and continues, “I’d rather not tangle with her right now. We might be able to sneak by. Just take it nice and slow and watch where you step.” He thinks for a moment, then adds, “Or, if you’re feeling lucky, you can take this bow. Might take her by surprise. Go ahead. I’ll follow your lead and watch your back.” He offers me the bow. I take it and some arrows. Deciding to be daring, I nock an arrow and draw back, aiming for the bear. Despite having almost no experience with a bow, I manage to hit her in the neck. Unfortunately, bears have thicker skin than I had anticipated.

Hadvar draws in a sharp breath as the bear raises to her hind legs and lets out a deafening roar. “Guess we’re fighting it.”

I manage to squeak out a small, “Sorry.”

We draw our swords. The bear charges and so do we. As we’re about to engage, Hadvar shouts, “Go left!”

I spin to the left, he goes right. We both drag our blades down the sides of the bear. It lumbers a few more steps before collapsing. Dead.

I start laughing, giddy from the adrenaline rush. Hadvar just looks absolutely done with my shenanigans. He sighs, and mumbles out a tired, “Let’s go.”

Eventually, we come to the exit, with no other delays. “This looks like the way out! I was starting to wonder if we’d ever make it.”

“Finally!” I run ahead and burst out of the cave, deeply inhaling the fresh air. We’re about to continue on down the path, when a familiar roar sounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in real life, I do know a little about sword fighting and I'm not awful at it. However, I'm abysmal with a bow, so... There's a fun fact about me, I guess. Ta da!


	8. On the Road Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hadvar and I travel to Riverwood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't have much to say, so I'll just speak the truth... Jesus loves you!

Chapter 8

“Wait!” We duck behind a rock and watch the large, black dragon fly away in the distance. Once the sky is clear, Hadvar stands back up. “Looks like he's gone for good this time. But I don't think we should stick around to see if he comes back. Closest town from here is Riverwood. My uncle's the blacksmith there. I'm sure he could help you out.”

“Thank you,” I say gratefully.

He thinks for a moment, “It's probably best if we split up. Good luck. I wouldn't have made it without your help today. Listen, you should go to Solitude and join up with the Imperial Legion. We could really use someone like you. And if the rebels have themselves a dragon, General Tullius is the only one who can stop them.”

“I’m not really a fighting type… speaking of, can I please tag along with you for a little longer? Please?”

He sighs, “You should give yourself more credit, friend. You’re a better fighter than you think... Fine. You can come with me.”

I grin and thank him once again. We set off down the road. He points to a mountain as we walk, “See that ruin up there? Bleak Falls Barrow. When I was boy, that place always used to give me nightmares. Draugr creeping down the mountain to climb through my window at night, that kind of thing.” He shudders slightly, “I admit, I still don’t much like the look of it.”

I look down, embarrassed to ask, “What’s a Draugr?”

“Never heard of ‘em, huh? There the long dead bodies of Nords, rising from the grave.”

“Like a zombie?”

“Kind of. Usually dead longer.”

I feel a slight pang of anxiety at the thought of running into one of those spooky bois. A little further along the path, I notice three stones, standing on a stone platform. “What are those?”

Hadvar gets a childlike grin and runs up to them, “These are the Guardian Stones, three of the ancient standing stones that dot Skyrim’s landscape. Go ahead, see for yourself!”

I walk up to the platform cautiously. I look at the three stones. One has an engraving of a wizard. Another has a sneaky looking dude on it. The third has a warrior on it. I walk up to the Warrior Stone and touch it. The second my hand makes contact, a beam of light shoots straight up into the sky. I jump back in shock.

“Warrior, good! I knew you shouldn’t have been in that cart the minute I laid eyes on you,” Hadvar beams. “That’s the one I had chosen.”

“What does it do?”

“It gives you the ability to learn fighting skills faster.”

I grin at his enthusiasm, “That’ll be useful.”

We continue on a little longer. Eventually, the village comes into view. As we near the village, Hadvar says, “Listen, as far as I'm concerned, you've already earned your pardon. But until we get that confirmed by General Tullius, just stay clear of other Imperial soldiers and avoid any complications, all right? I'm glad you decided to come with me. We're almost to Riverwood.”

“Good. It’s starting to get dark,”

As we enter, we look around, specifically, at the sky. “Things look quiet enough here.” He points at one of the houses, connected to a forge, a man standing outside working on it. “Come on, there’s my uncle.” He waves and calls out to the man outside the forge, “Uncle Alvor! Hello!”

Alvor looks up from what he’s doing and squints in the direction of me and his nephew. “Hadvar? What are you doing here? Are you on leave from…” He looks at us in shock, “Shor’s bones, what happened to you, boy? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

I look down at our armor and realize why he’s so shocked. We’re both extremely filthy, covered in scrapes and burns, hair sticking up in all directions.

Hadvar looks around before saying in a hushed tone, “Shh, Uncle. Keep your voice down. I’m fine, but we should go inside to talk.”

Alvor casts an intrigued glance between me and Hadvar, “What’s going on? And who’s this?”

Hadvar rolls his eyes, “She’s a friend. Saved my life in fact. Come on, I’ll explain everything, but we need to go inside.”

He gives a resigned sigh but agrees, “Okay, okay. Come inside, then. Sigrid will get you something to eat and you can tell me all about it.” He leads us to the door and lets us in.

As I enter, I say, “Thank you, sir,”


	9. IDK what to call this chapter so... REEEEEEEEEE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanging with Hadvar's family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I haven't been uploading. I've been pretty busy recently.

Chapter 9

After we’re all in, Alvor calls out, “Sigrid, we have company!”

Sigrid comes up stairs curiously and rushes over excitedly at seeing her nephew, “Hadvar! We’ve been so worried about you!” She grins, noticing me, “Come, you two must be hungry. Sit down and I’ll get you something to eat.”

As we sit down, Alvor asks, “Now then boy, what’s the big mystery? What were you doing, looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?”

I snort as I try not to laugh, “We almost did.”

Hadvar gives me a “you’re not helping” look, “I don’t know where to start. I was assigned to General Tullius’ guard. We were stopped in Helgen when we were attacked… by a dragon.”

“A dragon? That’s… ridiculous. You aren’t drunk, are you, boy?”

He has a look on his face clearly stating that he wished he was. _I totally get it bro._

“Husband, let him tell his story,” Sigrid scolds. She places bowls of stew in front of me and Hadvar.

I barely get out a “Thank you so much” before devouring the stew. I didn’t realize I was this hungry. _When was the last time I ate?_

Hadvar shrugs, “Not much more to tell. This dragon flew over and just wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion. I don’t know if anyone else made it out alive,” He gestures to me and continues, “I doubt I’d have made it out alive if not for my friend here. I need to get back to Solitude and let them know what’s happened. I thought you could help us out. Food, supplies, a place to stay.”

I’m barely paying attention, absolutely infatuated with my food. I tuned in long enough to hear something about Alvor lending us supplies.

“Of course! Any friend of Hadvar’s is a friend of mine.” I don’t know how to feel about the way he said “friend”. He tuns to me, “I’m glad to help, but I need your help. We need your help. The Jarl needs to know there’s a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless… We need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun to send whatever soldiers he can. If you’ll do that for me, I’ll be in your debt.”

I nod, “Easy- peasy, I can do that.”

“Good. And you’ll be able to head out tomorrow?”

“Sure… But I have literally no idea where I’m going.”

“I’ll include a map in the supplies I give you tomorrow.”

Before anymore can be said, a young girl speaks up with much enthusiasm, “Hadvar, did you really see a dragon? Did it have really big teeth!?”

Her mother instantly admonishes her, “Hush, Dorthe. Don’t pester your cousin.”

Alvor chuckles, “Well, I better get back to work. You two can make yourselves at home.”

“Thank you again,” I say with a slight yawn.

Dorthe and her mother head back downstairs, leaving just Hadvar and I. “It’s nice to be back in a friendly spot, huh? Listen, I’m going to stay up here awhile after you leave tomorrow. Whiterun is just up the road from here. If you end up needing me, you can take carriage up to Solitude. I’ll be up there for a while.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I yawn again.

“You need to get some sleep. There’s a bed downstairs you can have.”

“Okay… I’ll see you tomorrow then. Good night.”

I get up. I lay there for quite awhile staring at the ceiling. Every time I close my eyes, all I see is either the first Stormcloak I stabbed or the giant spiders melting faces off. Eventually, I drift off to a nightmare filled sleep…


End file.
